106 Influence of timing of grazing during the growing season on forage utilization, foraging efficiency, botanical composition, and diet quality in semi-arid rangelands

Summary

Current grazing management recommendations for semi-arid rangeland include deferring grazing during the growing season to allow forage recovery from defoliation on an every other year or a two out of every three year basis. Though research supports that deferment during the growing season is fundamental to maintaining sustainable grazing systems, there is limited information available that investigates how grazing behavior changes throughout the growing season. Therefore, our objectives were to evaluate the impacts of timing of grazing during the growing season on diet quality, botanical composition of diet, and foraging behavior of beef cattle grazing on semi-arid, bunchgrass-dominated rangelands. In the late Spring through mid-Summer of 2024, cattle grazed 16 four hectare pastures arra